Ferran
A masculine Catalan name derived from the Latin Ferranus, meaning "ironworker".
Name Census estimates that about 143 living Americans carry the first name Ferran. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Ferran today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ferran births was 2023 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ferran. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ferran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
143
~ 1 in 2,396,883 Americans
Peak year
2023
22 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,737
Tracked since 1986
Census
Ferran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 185 people with the first name Ferran, which placed it at #40,305 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#40,305
National first-name rank
People counted
185
185 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ferran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferran is Hispanic at 55.1%. The next largest groups are White (27.6%) and Black (11.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ferran described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ferran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino55.1% · 102
- White27.6% · 51
- Black or African American11.9% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 7
- Two or more races1.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Ferran
Ferran leans heavily male at 87.6% of total registrations, but 18 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ferran as a male name
- Ranked #4,737 in 2024
- 21 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (22 births)
Ferran as a female name
- Ranked #17,401 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1986 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ferran on both sides of the split. Of the 188 people counted with this name, 141 were male (75.0%) and 47 were female (25.0%).
Popularity
Ferran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ferran from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 85 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ferran by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ferran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ferrans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ferran
The name Ferran has its origins in ancient Rome, derived from the Latin name Ferranus, which itself is believed to have stemmed from the word "ferrum," meaning iron or steel. This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with professions related to metalworking or the military.
In the early days of the Roman Empire, the name Ferranus was not particularly widespread, but it gained popularity during the later Imperial period, with several notable individuals bearing the name. One of the earliest recorded instances is Ferranus Maximus, a Roman consul who lived in the 3rd century AD.
As the Roman Empire spread its influence across Europe, the name Ferranus evolved into various forms, including the Catalan version "Ferran." This form became particularly prominent in the regions of modern-day Spain and Portugal, where it was often bestowed upon individuals of noble or wealthy backgrounds.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Ferran was Ferran I of Aragon, also known as Ferdinand I of Aragon, who ruled from 1412 to 1416. His marriage to Isabella I of Castile united the crowns of Aragon and Castile, laying the foundation for the modern nation of Spain.
Another notable Ferran was Ferran II of Aragon, also known as Ferdinand II of Aragon, who reigned from 1479 to 1516. He was the husband of Isabella I of Castile and played a crucial role in the Spanish conquest of Granada, effectively ending the Reconquista and the Moorish presence in the Iberian Peninsula.
In the realm of art and literature, Ferran Garcés (1481-1545) was a renowned Catalan poet and playwright who made significant contributions to the development of the Catalan language and its literary tradition.
Beyond the Iberian Peninsula, Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer (1912-1967) was a prominent Catalan mathematician and physicist who made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of partial differential equations and fluid dynamics.
Ferran Adrià (born 1962) is a celebrated Spanish chef and restaurateur, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of molecular gastronomy and a key figure in the avant-garde culinary movement.
People
Ferran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ferran as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ferran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ferran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ferran going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,396,883 US residents.
Is Ferran a common name?
We classify Ferran as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ferran most popular?
The single biggest year for Ferran was 2023, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ferran is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ferran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 185 people with the name Ferran, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,305 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ferran in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ferran?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ferran on both sides of the split. Of the 188 people counted with this name, 141 were male (75.0%) and 47 were female (25.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ferran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ferran is Hispanic at 55.1%. The next largest groups are White (27.6%) and Black (11.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ferran most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ferran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (102 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ferran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ferran a male name?
Yes, 87.6% of people registered as Ferran in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ferran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ferran in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ferran can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Ferran?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.